As opening-round humiliations go, Leeds Rhinos’ 42-10 pasting at Warrington Wolves last Thursday was right up there.
It was a stuffing – signed, sealed and delivered by a Wolves side hungry for points after their worst campaign in Super League history last year. As Rohan Smith’s men capitulated in front of the live Sky cameras, it was easy to forget they had reached a Grand Final less than five months earlier.
The turnaround that Smith engineered after arriving at Headingley last May was quite staggering as the Rhinos went from no-hopers to title contenders.
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Which made last week’s surrender at the Halliwell Jones Stadium all the more disappointing, if not entirely surprising given their patchy pre-season form. If Smith looked and sounded stunned afterwards then it was with good reason – his men had just been taken to the cleaners.
Still, tonight’s visit of Hull FC offers Leeds a chance to bury the demons of last week and kickstart their campaign in front of their own supporters.
There is nowhere in rugby league quite like Headingley on a Friday night and the support Leeds get from the South Stand is arguably unmatched in the British game.
That they face a Hull FC side coached by Tony Smith – Rohan’s uncle and the man who led Leeds to their first championship in 32 years – adds intrigue to the clash.
Leeds will always have a special place in Smith’s heart and the feeling is mutual with the club’s supporters, given his achievements at Headingley back in the day.
Yet despite the family ties – Rohan’s dad Brian is also a former Hull FC coach – for both Smiths tonight it will be about collecting the two points on offer and nothing else.
The Black and Whites opened their campaign with a close-fought victory over Castleford Tigers last Sunday when 15,383 packed into the MKM Stadium.
Hull Derby matches aside, it was their biggest attendance since they hosted Leeds on Good Friday in 2017 – and also their largest crowd at an opening home game since 2005.
Hull fans will travel in their numbers this evening and, with the Sky Sports cameras at Headingley, there will be no hiding place for either set of players.
For the Rhinos, who saw key men such as Liam Sutcliffe, Brad Dwyer, Tom Briscoe, Matt Prior and Zak Hardaker depart during the off-season, it is about doing the basics right.
Such as sticking their head in where it hurts and showing the kind of collective desire which fuelled their march to Old Trafford last autumn.
The Rhinos are still without Harry Newman, Mikolaj Oledzki, James Bentley, Luke Hooley and Max Simpson through injury. But Papua New Guinea centre Nene Macdonald is fit to debut and that is a huge boost to the Rhinos, while prop Justin Sangare, one of their better performers in defeat last week, will make his home bow.
Elsewhere, there is enough quality in Leeds’ ranks to eke out the win they so desperately crave. Dwyer and Sutcliffe will line up for the Black and Whites against their old team-mates, adding another fascinating sub-plot to the game.
As it always the case when these fierce Yorkshire rivals clash, it should be some scrap.
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